Simple and Complicated
by LupineLove
Summary: Someone takes Hera's plan and makes it more Complicated. Or, some would say, more Simple. It all depends on how one looks at things. Yet another SoN fic.


He was standing at the shoreline of a dark river. He knew without knowing it was filled with death and dread and failed hopes. But that didn't matter, because he was dreaming, and in his dream, he panicked because he couldn't remember who he was. But at the same time, he felt exultant, because he'd been reborn. Why should he panic when he'd been given another chance?

He stumbled into the river. He felt like he was burning. But he would be fine. Because this was all a dream. A very realistic and painful dream. A voice whispered to him, "Concentrate."

And so he did. But he had nothing in him to concentrate on. There was nothing about him, nothing within him, nothing without him, save for the voice. So he used that voice, and focused on it. It was his tether to all that he was, though there wasn't very much of it.

The voice whispered instructions to him, and he felt all the pain and horror coalesce into a single point just below his shoulder joint, at the crux of his arm and his torso. Before he could tell what was happening, he was on the shore, slowly fading into wakefulness.

* * *

><p>"Sweetheart, it's time to get up." The matronly voice was accompanied by weathered hands brushed his hair out of his face. His consciousness focusing on that one point of contact slowly drifted up from the abyss of sleep. Which was odd. He couldn't remember being a heavy sleeper. In point of fact, he couldn't remember anything.<p>

"Wha?" the nameless young man opened his eyes to see an old woman sitting at his bedside. She was strangely familiar, and yet he couldn't remember ever having met her. She had startling green eyes that the young man instinctively realized were the same burnished leafy green as his own. Her face was a morass of crags and valleys carved by time and worry and laughter, and her lips crinkled at the corners as she saw him open his eyes, lighting up the crinkled old leather of her face with an inner radiance that belied any and all external signs of age.

"You're going to be late, Perseus. Your friends are waiting for you in the parlor. I thought you were excited about going to SeaWorld for your class trip? Never mind that you've been there a dozen times already." She smiled at him as she unceremoniously yanked his blue covers off of him. As Perseus looked around, he saw that his entire room was blue. The walls were painted blue, he had a blue lamp, his bed covers and sheets and pillow were blue, a blue rug covered most of the floor, and a blue laptop sat atop a blue glass desk. He even had blue beanbags thrown everywhere. His walls were covered by posters of the Oceans and the life that inhabited it. Most of them were blue as well.

However, Perseus soon realized that, save for some blue boxer shorts, he was unclothed. He yelped, blushed, and covered himself, "Hey!"

"Oh child," she chided gently, walking over to his blue wooden dresser and tossing him a dark blue, almost purple, shirt and a pair of jeans, "it's nothing I haven't seen before."

Perseus was hit by a pang of guilt that he couldn't remember this woman's name, "But…"

"Now hurry and get dressed, I'll be-"

"Who are you?"

The old lady froze, her grey threaded brown ponytail swinging as she turned to fix sad green eyes on him. Perseus felt his stomach clench with remorse as he realized he had hurt her somehow, "Dear, I'm your Gran. And you've known me your entire life."

"I'm sorry, I just can't remember." He said as he tried to recall who he was, who this woman was, who is friends were, why he should be excited about SeaWorld. He was met with a large and infuriating blank wall.

Gran came over and touched his arm lightly, "It's alright, child. Don't fret about it. Put your clothes on and go downstairs and to school. This'll all sort itself out in time. I'll have a nice cup of tea waiting for you. And don't forget to pack your things again; I'll not drive all the way to SeaWorld just because you forgot your laptop and fancy music player again." She straitened her green dress before gliding out of the room, surprisingly elegant for a woman who, to Percy, looked well past eighty.

* * *

><p>"You know, Perce, the whole sex hair look works for you. If I weren't so sure you batted for the wrong team, I'd totally jump you." A smooth tenor greeted Percy as he made his way down the stairs, and was welcomed by an elfin looking blonde boy with sharp blue eyes and a serious looking brunette girl wearing a green shirt proudly proclaiming itself to be made of hemp. She glared at him with deep ocher eyes as he trudged his way down the stairs, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.<p>

"I can't believe Gran still has to wake you up in the mornings, you lazy bum," she said with fond exasperation and an enticing smile. The pair looked about the same age as him. Their hands were on their backpacks, obviously ready to get going to school.

Perseus's own backpack was heavy with the materials Gran had told him to pack and what had already been inside it, though he didn't know why he needed his laptop at Seaworld. Perseus didn't remember anything about himself, but he seriously doubted he was the type of guy who couldn't live without his computer.

"Have some tea before you go, sweety. I'd made breakfast, but Marcus decided he needed eat it all while you were asleep. Apparently he starves day after day." Gran's voice lilted teasingly as she laid out a cup of semi-translucent green stone in front of Perseus. He swigged the entire thing down in one gulp, pleasantly surprised as the freshly steeped brew invigorated him.

Gran took the cup and screwed it onto a thermos, made out of the same gem as the cup. Jade. "I made you some more, in case you get thirsty while on the trip. Try to be good now, you hear?" She said as she handed the Thermos to Perseus.

"Thanks, Gran," he shouted as he was dragged out of the house by the friends he didn't know. He turned the Thermos around in his hands, noticing some Chinese characters on the bottom. The translation sat next to them, "Made in Guangling." He hurriedly stuffed it in his backpack as he jogged to keep up with his friends.

"Hurry up, Percy, Mr. Halinhorf is going to slam you with detention again if you're late. Coach Del won't be too happy to hear that his star swimmer couldn't go to meets cause of tardiness." Marcus said as they dragged him forward, barely catching the bus.

"Um, who are you guys?" Percy, he decided he liked that version of his name better, asked the two as they sat down in the back. Percy noticed a lot of eyes lingering on the three of them as they passed. It made him feel odd.

"Percy, quit joking around," Marcus said.

The girl met Percy's eyes before saying, "Mark, I don't think he's joking."

Marcus just arched an eyebrow at Percy, "Alrighty then, Mr. Bourne. I'm Marcus Lesbius, your best friend since you started attending San Diego's Scripps High School in the fall and also star of the Track team. This is Julia Claudius, the President of the Science Club, Environmental Club, and Club for the Human Treatment of Animals, as well as the Student Council President, Honor Role Student of the Month blah blah blah. Jog your memory?" he said indulgently.

"Is it alright for me to be hanging out with people like you then?" Percy asked, feeling like an idiot for needing to.

Julia and Marcus exchanged glance before Marcus answered, "You're the star of the Swim Team, dude. You ousted the Captain, who'd held the title since he'd been a freshman, your first day." He stole a glance at a stone faced Julia who was remaining stoically silent, "Dude, we've been hanging out since your first day here."

Percy shook his head, "Sorry. I just can't remember, well, anything." He said as he rubbed his temples.

"Is this all some joke to you?" Julia asked. She was staring at Percy with those intense brown eyes. Percy had to admit, she was pretty, even while she was quite obviously angry at him.

"I'm not joking. I'm totally serious. I can't remember anything at all. I didn't even remember my name this morning until Gran told it to me," Percy reached out to grab Julia's hand, a gesture that he felt she wanted. She didn't pull away, but she certainly didn't react well either.

"Look, Percy," Marcus said, doing his best to lessen the tension building up between his two friends, "do you at least remember when you came to Scripps?"

Percy shook his head, frustrated, and let go of Julia's hand to rub at his temples, "I can't-" Percy was cut off as a swaggering blond ox lumbered up to the three of them.

"Hey, Percy, ready for that meet next week? If you can't keep up in practice tomorrow, I might just steal your spot out from under you," the blonde said as he plopped into the seat in front of the group of friends.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, thanks. And if you take the spot, I'm sure you'll deserve it." Percy didn't know how to respond exactly, but he felt the words were right as they left his tongue.

The blond frowned, the lines around his eyes tightening at Percy's response, "Sure, superstar. Whatever you say. You better be careful out there, today. I'm not the only one who's sick of you and your shit," the blond, obviously annoyed at not having got a rise out of his target, trudged back to his group of friends, all of them glaring at Percy. They completely ignored the other two.

"Uh, does that happen often?" Percy asked, more than a little put off.

Marcus rolled his eyes, "That little bitch, Oliver, is all bark and no bite. After you stole his Captaincy, he was horrible. He's just gotten worse since…" Marcus trailed off as Julia glared at him.

"Worse since what?" Percy asked, genuinely curious at what he could have done that was worse than ousting the star of the swim team.

"Nothing, Percy, nothing at all. Let's see what we can get you to remember. It'll help us determine why exactly you have amnesia all of a sudden." Julia said as she peppered Percy with questions and helped him fill in the blanks, hoping to trigger some sort of reaction.

Percy's Gran was one of the best, and one of the strangest, doctors in California. She was a retired OBGYN and Pediatrician who still made house calls and acted as a midwife despite the fact she had left UCSD a while ago.

Percy himself had moved to San Diego from New York a couple months ago, and had been staying with Gran ever since his Mom, Sally Jackson, had gotten remarried. His favorite color was blue (he had kind of guessed that one already). He was horrible at English since he was dyslexic, decent at Ancient Languages of the World, only managed to skirt through Biology because of all the marine bio questions on the tests, and had apparently blown up more than a few experiments in Chemistry.

"Seriously? Nothing?" Julia had finally thrown her hands up in exasperation. They had spent the entire drive to SeaWorld quizzing Percy on himself. And he had flunked.

Percy blushed and hung his head slightly, "I'm sorry, guys."

Marcus just patted his back with a smile, edging closer to Percy, "It's alright Percy. I'm just surprised you haven't remembered you were gay and we were going out," he said with a wink as he tried to climb into Percy's lap.

Percy blushed and stuttered, searching for a proper response as Julia rolled her eyes, reached over Percy, and smacked Marcus upside the head. Hard.

He started to snicker as Marcus complained, "Hey, can't blame a body trying. But just to remind you, I don't understand the concept of personal space. Just warning you."

"Horny bastard," Julia said with a giggle, "keep your claws out of the innocent. Percy has enough problems without you trying to corrupt him."

Marcus snorted, "Oh, as if Percy's innocent."

Percy spluttered an indignant response and had to smile as the banter between them escalated. As he got off the bus, he realized that he had really good friends and a nice life, even if he might not be able to remember all of it.

* * *

><p>SeaWorld was a blast. It sung to him in a way vaguely remembered, the song resonating through his bone, brains and marrow was like a favorite flavor he hadn't quite let go of. It was a shrine to the Oceans and Seas and all the life contained therein. It felt like another home to him.<p>

The teachers had pretty much given them free reign over where they were allowed to go and when. The only stipulation was that they were all to be back at the rendezvous point before the bus left. Those too idiotic to remember, Percy had received a pointed look from Mr. Halinhorf – the vice principal – at that point, would be left at SeaWorld to "finally be released into the wild, where you rightfully belong."

Everyone, even Percy, had laughed at that. As the day wore on and he hung out with Julia and Marcus, the pain of his memory loss gradually faded. Yes, he was worried about it. But now, it just didn't seem to matter anymore. It faded into the periphery. His time and attention were taken up by the witty flirtatious banter of Marcus and the sedate heartfelt conversations with Julia. Though, Julia seemed distracted for some reason.

"Hey Percy! Look! Seasnakes!" Marcus cried as he pulled both of his friends behind him, bodily dragging them towards the special exhibit.

Percy frowned. The exhibit seemed somehow wrong. There was some sort of foreboding aspect about the place that didn't match the rest of the park. He could almost swear he heard the word, "Ware!" as the three of them entered, the door closing behind them.

* * *

><p>Julia sighed as she let Percy drag her along with him and Marcus. A gesture as simple as Percy holding her hand shouldn't have meaning to her. Or at least, it hadn't had meaning before he had somehow contracted Amnesia.<p>

Julia's ADHD flared up again and she found herself drowning in snippets of memories. Raven black hair tickling her chest. Soft lips caressing her neck. Strong, callused hands ghosting over her thigh. Her hands tracing well defined muscle, covered by soft sun kissed skin. Julia blushed at the memory of Percy's Gran walking in on them making out in his room. She had simply reminded them to be safe before walking back out.

She took another long look at her boyfriend of two weeks. This just wasn't fair. She had finally managed to get Percy to come to terms with his feelings for her, just as she had had to come to terms with her feelings for him. It had been a long and arduous process, but it had been worth it. Until this morning.

She had to admit, she was probably taking advantage of him. Percy had let it slip that he had just gotten out of a bad relationship with his ex, a girl called Annabeth. They'd been _the_ couple, and she had been Percy's first love.

But she'd dumped him for an architecture internship. That had been another reason he'd moved out to the west coast, since her internship was in New York and he wanted to be as far from her as possible.

Ah well, Annie's loss was her gain. Julia couldn't help but like Percy. He was sweet, and kind, and goofy, and funny, and loyal. And he loved animals. Admittedly, they were usually sea creatures, but he did love the ocean, which was a plus since Julia was a staunch environmentalist.

But now, Julia had been relegated back to square one after she had finally constructed an actual romantic aspect to their relationship, and had nearly gotten to third base to boot. She was more than a little frustrated. Especially since they were in a mostly dark room with the cool aquamarine lights from the aquariums casting Percy's unusually serious face into stark relief, making him look utterly kissable. Julia didn't take herself for sex crazed - that was Marcus - but she was most definitely unhappy with the current state of affairs.

A loud thump snapped Julia out of her doldrums, "What was that?" she snapped, turning to Percy and Marcus. Marcus waved her off, fascinated with the sea snake display. Percy, on the other hand, was uncharacteristically distracted. Rather than lavishing attention on the plethora of sea creatures that usually drove him mad with fascination, his eyes were darting around, leaping to every shadow with paranoid intensity.

"I'm not quite sure we should stay here, guys. It's kind of freaking me out." He said as he pulled Julia closer to him. She shook her head, trying to prevent the blood rushing to her head. Even without his memories, he was still apparently dorkishly masculine enough to try and protect her from whatever it was he thought was lurking in the shadows.

It would have been so much nicer if that paranoia hadn't been warranted.

Julia spun with Percy as she heard Marcus gasp. As they turned towards Marcus, they found their slim friend struggling with a beefy hand pressed against his mouth. Oliver had an arm around his neck, his hand covering Marcus's face, while his other arm kept Marcus's arms pinned at his back.

"Finally. I was waiting for you three little freaks to wander somewhere you weren't supposed to." Oliver said. His eyes glittered, a feverish cast distorting them slightly.

Julia immediately began to diagnose him. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated, though the low lighting could account for that. It looked like he was sweating profusely, and his words had a hint of a slur to them. Julia ran through all the scenarios in her mind. He was most likely doping or high on something. There had been rumors he'd gone to extreme measures to beat Percy in the pool. The fact that his Roid Rage had caught up with him wasn't at all surprising.

Julia disentangled herself from Percy, slowly approaching Oliver the way she would any cornered and frightened animal. She heard Percy's breath of disapproval, but she knew that, even without his memories, he would trust her enough to do what had to be done to help their friend. She also knew that, with his amnesia, he wouldn't be able to deal with this situation as well as she would. She had to trust he realized that as well.

"What do you want, Oliver?" she spoke to Oliver in calm, collected tones, but made eye contact with Marcus. She saw the glitter of recognition in his eyes as they turned upward slightly. She took a deep breath and stared Oliver down.

"I want that bastard off the team, that's what I want." Oliver seethed, "'Percy's so sweet, Percy's so superb, Percy's so spectacular,'" he mimicked in a high falsetto murmur, his eyes glazing over slightly, "You think you're all that 'cause you take my spot, then you take my girl, isn't that right, Jackson?" Oliver was red in the face and shouting now. Julia hadn't realized it would be so easy to rile him up, but that wasn't the important part.

Marcus used the fact that Oliver had split his focus to head butt the taller teen in the chin. Hard. Marcus may not have the musculature of Percy, but he certainly had leg strength. And all of that leg strength and his extremely thick skull crashing into Oliver's chin caused the bulky teen to crumple in a heap on the floor, unconscious from the blow.

"Nice job being a hotshot!" Marcus said with a thousand watt grin as he fist bumped Percy, "And as for you, good job, little inciter." He said as he hip bumped Julia. Typical Marcus.

Percy just laughed, "We didn't do all that much, man. You're the one who knocked him out."

Marcus just scoffed, and Julia had to hold back a laugh. It was near impossible when Marcus was acting ridiculous and trying to "seduce" Percy, the way he did after either of the testosterone laden teens won something, "Psh. Laying out bitches like that is easy. Jealous hags are nothing but hot air."

"And that, demigod, is where you're wrong."

* * *

><p>"What did you just call me?" Marcus said as faced the odd woman in the aquarium with them.<p>

She had lanky dark hair and desiccated olive skin covering what appeared to be all bone. She would have been attractive if she had any meat on her and her eyes didn't seem cartoonish in their size relative to her almost laughably small head. It also would have helped if her eyes weren't a solid pitch black that seemed to draw them in.

"I called you what you are, demigod." She said. Her voice was a low guttural growl that made Marcus's hair stand on end.

"Marcus, Julia, I think we should get out of here," Percy said as he guided his two friends towards the door. Marcus was under the distinct impression he didn't trust the creepy hag. Not that Marcus could blame his friend. He certainly didn't trust her.

"Such a popular young boy," the nameless old biddy said to Percy. Her voice was lighter as she switched to the seemingly random topic, "So many eyes directed towards you. So much envy, even," she swung her disconcertedly large eyes towards Marcus, "from those you hold so dear."

Marcus's blood boiled, "What are you talking about, bitch?" For some reason, the old woman was getting under his skin.

She smiled before turning to Julia, "You envy her. Her relationship with him. You desire wha-"

"Don't listen to her!" Percy shouted, "She's trying to turn us against one another, let's just leave." Percy started physically pushing his friend to the door.

Marcus and Julia exchanged glances, both on opposite sides of Percy, both being pushed by him. Marcus would never admit it, but what the bitch was saying was true. Yes, he was jealous of Julia. She always got what she wanted. She had it easy with everything, grades, her social life, boys. Marcus was the black sheep that she pitied. It wasn't until Percy that Marcus had found a real friend who appreciated him for who he was.

A friend that had been stolen by Julia. And yes, if Marcus was being honest with himself, something that happened surprisingly often, he would admit that he liked Percy in that way. Not that either of them would ever find that out. He hated Julia for that. He…

Marcus shook his head, clearing out the unnecessary thoughts. It looked like Julia was a bit out of it too, "Who are you? What are you doing?" she asked the old lady, her fists squished up against her temples as if she could crush the thoughts that weren't supposed to be in it.

"I am the goddess Invidia, young girl. I am your jealousy, your-" Invidia's monologue was interrupted by Percy lunging at her, punching her in the face. Marcus pressed his hands to his ears as he she let out an ear splitting shriek, her voice scratching at the insides of his head.

"You dare strike a goddess?" she shrieked. She grabbed Percy by the throat and lifted him bodily up off of the ground, flinging him at the glass aquarium. It spiderwebbed in cracks as Percy smacked it and slumped to the floor. Seeing Percy thrown like a ragdoll galvanized both Julia and Marcus. If a woman who looked like she weighed one hundred nothing could throw Percy across the room, she was most likely not normal. And if she was shouting that she was a goddess louder than most sound systems could handle without blowing out, she probably was.

Julia leapt onto Invidia's back while she was still turned towards Percy while Marcus searched desperately for a weapon. He sprinted towards the wall and grabbed a placard that proudly proclaimed the exhibit open and ripped it from its resting place. He ran full tilt towards Invidia and swung it as hard as he could at her head, his momentum adding force to the blow.

Marcus heard a resounding crack from Invidia's skull, but that just seemed to make her angry. She turned towards Marcus and pried the placard from his hands, back handing him into the railing surrounding the exhibit. Marcus saw stars as he hit the back of his head. He must have been hallucinating because the next thing he saw was Invidia plunge the placard _into_ Julia's chest. She just stared down at it disbelieving before she slumped to the ground, Invidia wearing a triumphant smirk.

The last thing Marcus heard before he blacked out was a bestial roar that could have only come from Percy, and the sound of rushing water.

* * *

><p>Percy could feel the water around him singing as he used it to drawn the goddess that had just murdered his friend in cold blood. Invidia shouted her rage at him as she tried to stem the water that was forcing its way around her, crushing her, but nothing she did would help her now. Percy would make sure of that.<p>

_Kill_. The thought that wasn't his own almost jarred his concentration, but Percy noticed that the sea snakes contained in the exhibit, many poisonous, were swimming their way towards Invidia in accordance with his anger and will. A tiny legion of snakes bit into her, shouting _For the Lord!_

Invidia turned her gigantic eyes towards Percy, and they seemed to take up even more of her head as they gleamed pure hateful black at him, "I will not forget this, demigod! Know that the mistress will end you and your friends! All of this is for naught!" Invidia let out one more rage filled shriek before dissipating.

Percy let out a huff, holding up the water, though he didn't know how he was doing all of this, just long enough for the seasnakes to get back into their now mostly broken tanks before letting it all fall. He was exhausted, but he sloughed his way over to Julia's body, a hole running clean through it. He could see the blood coming out in spurts, though, meaning she wasn't dead yet, maybe if they got her to a hospital, they could help her.

Percy turned around at the sound of flapping wings. Behind him stood a brown bird with surprisingly intelligent eyes, staring at Julia. "What are you?" Percy choked out, his pain and grief constricting his throat. He hadn't been able to protect her.

The bird glimmered for a moment, and then a beautiful woman with red hair and brown wings, wearing a pure white toga and holding a golden staff was standing before him, "I am Caladria. My Lady sent me here because she does not want you or your friends to come to harm."

She held her staff over Julia and murmured something in a language Percy vaguely recognized. Percy wanted to stop her, but some base guttural instinct told him to stop. He watched with painful hope as light spread from the golden staff in a nimbus, slowly enveloping Julia, who was cradled in his arms.

Percy watched, painfully bright sparkles of hope flickering through him, as Julia's wound closed and her breathing became noticeable and regular. She was alive, if barely.

Percy turned towards Caladria, "Thank you," he murmured. He was hugging Julia to him as if she meant the world to him. Perhaps she did. Percy certainly didn't know.

For her part, Caladria only smiled, "Though I am My Lady's servant, I can only do so much. I have one last gift for you, Perseus Jackson, before I must go. My Lady worries that, without this gift, you will perish at the hands of those who should be your allies."

Percy frowned, "What gift? Who's your lady? What are you talking about?"

Caladria smiled and shook her head. In a gesture so non-threatening and peaceful Percy didn't even think to react to it, she touched her staff to his forehead. Percy blacked out as he felt the painfully cold heat of knowledge branding itself into his mind. Blackness claimed Percy as he clutched Julia protectively to his chest.

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and the Olympians is owned by Rick Riordan.<p>

AN: Hi, this is my first fic. I enjoyed The Lost Hero, and here is my rendition of what will happen in Rick's next book. I make no grand claims to originality, just a few fun plot twists. I hope everyone enjoys it and reviews =D


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